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Cacozelia

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Pretentious or artificially ornate diction that draws attention to its own affected style, often criticized as inauthentic.

Detailed Definition
Cacozelia is a rhetorical vice involving affected, pretentious, or overly ornate diction that draws attention to itself rather than the subject; in poetry, it manifests as forced archaisms, obscure allusions, or purple prose, often criticized as insincere—though some Baroque or Decadent poets embrace it knowingly to explore artifice, as in the self-conscious excesses of Oscar Wilde or Jules Laforgue.
Example
Example in poetry:
Cacozelia is affected, overly ornate diction that draws attention to itself; Alexander Pope mocked it in "Peri Bathous" as failed sublimity; Victorian purple prose often veered into cacozelia; Modern examples: corporate jargon masquerading as poetry; This flaw reveals insecurity masked as sophistication.
Additional Notes
Affected, overly ornate diction; unsuccessful attempt at eloquence. Greek rhetorical term. Related: purple prose, bombast. Negative term distinguishing pretension from true elevation. Critical judgment involves taste assessment.
Other Meanings of “Cacozelia”
Also Known As
affected diction pretentious style
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